Bontrager's Nate Wilson closed his U23 career on Friday at the world championships in Florence, Italy. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

FLORENCE, Italy (VN) — The world championships are over. The course in Toscana was amazing. I don’t believe that anyone undeserving really ever wins a world championship, but the winners crowned in Florence were exceptionally deserving of their titles.

For me and the rest of the U.S. under-23 team Friday’s road race did not exactly go to plan. Going into the race we believed we had the team to medal and possibly better. We did not medal, but I still believe it was within our ability. It is not rare that races do not pan out as predicted or hoped, but that does not change what could have been. Going into the race we were all fit and ready, but it simply did not pan out.

Even from a situation that was not ideal, we still came very close to a medal. Cycling is very much a team sport, but this is one circumstance where perhaps I should not say “we.” Nate Brown came very close to a medal. Going into the race the plan was not to have Nate as a protected rider, but when he was the only rider left in the front group on the last lap, he did not hesitate at all and took charge. With the gold and silver medals up the road and virtually decided, Nate struck out with a little over one kilometer to go. He was solo with a gap on the field only to get caught within 50 meters of the line.

Watching it was heartbreaking, but at the same time it was just classic Nate Brown. At the time Gavin Mannion and myself were both out of the race, sitting in the feedzone and watching the race on TV. Gavin, who has raced as a teammate of Nate’s every year for the past six years, said to me, “I’d bet anything that Nate comes first out of that last corner, biggest gear, attacks the group and gets caught just before the line.” Sure enough, that is exactly what happened.

So the race did not go as we hoped, but it was still a great experience. The level at worlds was something different than any other race I’ve experienced. I don’t mean necessarily the physical level. The physical level is high, but the field is largely the same riders we’ve raced against all year. The prestige of the race, everyone racing for the nations, it just drives everything to another level. For me, just getting to take part and experience it was enough, at least for now.

Next year we will all go our separate ways. The four other guys that I raced with at worlds and all season will be on different teams. Tanner Putt will return to the U23 ranks with Axel Merckx, while the rest of are moving on, or getting kicked out in the case of yours truly. So this last race was an honor. Everybody talks about how the U23 riders are the future big names of the sport and I truly believe that about my teammates Lawson Craddock, Nate Brown, Gavin Mannion, and Tanner Putt. So, to end my season racing side-by-side with them for what could be the last time in my career is something I will never forget.

The Col de la Madeleine has been Nate Wilson's office as he prepares for the world championships. Photo: Nate Wilson | VeloNews.com

LE LECHERE, France (VN) — Alright, I will admit right off the bat that my headline is a bit sappy, but I’ve been feeling a bit sentimental and the clichés are just pouring out of me. Now for a bit more of an explanation: the reason for the headline and for me to write is the looming world championships.

I’ve had the honor of being selected to race the under-23 men’s road race alongside four riders who I very much admire, respect, and enjoy racing with. The team for the road race will be myself, Gavin Mannion, Tanner Putt, Lawson Craddock, and Nate Brown. Obviously the field is very strong and everyone wants to win, but I think we have a real shot. The team we have is a good match for this year’s course in Florence, Italy.

The world championships will be my last race as a U23 and honestly, it feels like the perfect culmination. When I was 19, four years seemed like a very long time, but the end has come much quicker than I ever imagined it would. Up to this point, I would not say at all that I’ve had a diffucult path onto the world championship team. However, I have taken a bit of my own path.

During my time as a U23, I’ve bounced around on three different teams and never considered myself on par with the guys like Nate, Lawson, and Gavin. I feel like every year I have chipped away at it and have slowly gotten better and better. So in my last race as a U23, to make it onto the world championship team feels like the perfect reward. Just to line up with my teammates for the race feels like the perfect prize at the top of the ladder I’ve been climbing.

That said, we are hoping to do a lot more than line up; we really hope to have an impact on the race. The whole team has been working hard to prepare for the event. Nate and Lawson have been in Lucca, Italy for almost two weeks already. They have a chance of doing something great in both the time trial and the road race. So they have been previewing the courses in nearby Florence, as well as doing a lot of specific work for the TT.

The three pure climbers on the squad, me, myself, and I, have been staying in the Alps at the base of the Col de la Madeleine training hard. Just kidding of course, well mostly. The three pure climbers of the squad are training in the Alps but they are not me, myself, and I. I am one of them, but Gavin Mannion and Tanner Putt have joined me. Our director, Mike Sayers, has organized an awesome camp for us with stunning views, lots of climbing, and more stunning views at the top.

Next week, the whole team will be in Florence in the run-up to the race. At this point, the finishing touches have been put on the form and we are all ready to put the icing on the delicious cake that this season has been.

Nate Wilson said it was bittersweet to finish the USA Pro Challenge, as it might have been the last time he rode with some of his Bontrager teammates. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com

DENVER (VN) — Since I have last written much has changed in the world. Actually, that may not be true. I am going to guess that much has changed in the world, but to be honest I have been immersed in my little stage race bubble and don’t really know much about what is happening in the world at all. It is true that even while not racing I tend to not know what is happening in the world around me. However, since I was in a week-long stage race that ended over the weekend, I am going to seize the opportunity to blame my ignorance on the recent race for a moment.

I may not know much about what is going on outside the bubble, but I have many great stories to share from within. The last three days of the USA Pro Challenge were wonderful. Just to catch everybody up to speed here is my quick and dirty race report.

Stage 5, Vail Time Trial: Flat, uphill, finish, gasp for breath, enough of that for one day.

Stage 6, Loveland to Fort Collins: Very fast, slow for about five minutes, pretty fast, a little faster, very fast, finish.

It may seem like I am leaving a lot of the race out, but to be honest I am not. The racing was fast and almost a blur. Doing races like the Pro Challenge is interesting because in the race I find myself just wanting it to end so the pain will stop and I can get onto the ice cream portion of the day. Afterwards when I think back on the race and can’t remember all the details, however, I always find myself disappointed and wishing I had taken it in a bit more.

I may not remember all the details of who was up the road when and what a certain climb was like, but there were a lot of moments that really stood out for me. During one stage we were under a blue sky and a bright sun when it started raining. The sky didn’t darken, barely any clouds were above us, but for a good 10 minutes it rained a good mountain rain on us. I had the honor of being the token Coloradoan at the race for Bontrager, so all my teammates were asking me what was going on. I couldn’t do anything but just smile and say, “classic Colorado.” For me, it was moments like that rainstorm that stood out, and there were a lot of them. Good roads and good races happen all over the world. What made the Pro Challenge so special though was that there were a lot of moments that were simply classic Colorado.

So now I am back at home thinking about the race and I have to say I truly enjoyed it. The ending was bittersweet, though. Bontrager finished third in the team classification and Lawson Craddock placed seventh overall, which was awesome. Although knowing it was the last race of the season, and the last time I may ever race on the same team with some of the guys again was a tough pill to swallow. Next month I will head to Italy for the under-23 world championships with USA Cycling so the season is not quite over yet. But I have never had as much fun and success racing as I have this year, and I owe it all to my teammates on Bontrager, our fearless leader Axel Merckx, and of course the best soigneur in the business, Reed McCalvin.

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (VN) — Tuesday morning I sat at the breakfast table in Aspen, enjoying some of the finest carbohydrates the world has to offer in preparation for the journey to Breckenridge via two big passes. Joining us at the Bontrager table were George Bennett of Radioshack-Leopard and Ian Boswell of Sky, both alumni of the team. It speaks to how great a program Axel Merckx has developed, that riders from past years, who have moved onto the WorldTour, want to come and hang out. However, the visit was a stimulus for so much more.

George had never heard Journey’s great hit “Wheel in the Sky,” so Boswell pulled it up on his phone and we all were treated to a listen. Several hours later, the race was on. The race rolled over Independence Pass with pretty much as little drama as possible for a 12,000-foot pass. After the race bottomed out in Buena Vista, we began a long, grinding drag up to Breckenridge.

Racing in Colorado is beautiful, but racing on a straight road that drags up for 20 miles can be a bit mind-numbing. It was during this grinder that the lyrical styling of Steve Perry from that morning popped into my head. For anyone that is not familiar with the song (be ashamed if you fall into this category), the line I could not lose was “the wheel in the sky keeps on turning.” The more I recited the line to myself, the more I realized it was the perfect fit for the race at the moment. There I was, just sitting in line, not really hurting, but not really comfortable. Simply put, the stage was just a grind, but still, my wheels kept on turning. In conclusion, Journey should be given more credit as some of the greatest lyricists of all time.

So, I pretty much recited the one line from the song I could remember to myself over and over again for four hours, until the race changed from a grind to more of an acute stab. In case people are unclear as to where exactly the transition occurred, I will be more exact. When the race entered Breckenridge and turned up the steep climb of Moonstone Road, there was definitely a changing of sensation from that of a dull grind to more of an acute piercing.

Admittedly, I have never been stabbed, but I imagine it may be similar to what I was feeling up the final climb. It was also at this point that I decided I do not enjoy Peter Sagan. He surged forward out of the group with about 200 meters to go on the climb, and I surged backwards out of it at exactly the same time. I think we may have some special connection from it, though. Perhaps I am the ying to his yang?

Thankfully, after Tuesday’s brutal stage, we had a bit of a mellower cruise on Wednesday. Some things never change, though, I suppose. Sagan won again, and I had another song lyric stuck in my head. For those that care to know, it was a line from a little diddy known as “Grace is Gone” by Dave Matthews. The line inspiring me today was:

Excuse me please, one more drink
Could you make it strong
Cause I don’t need to think
She broke my heart
My grace is gone
One more drink and I’ll move on

Honestly, it is not the most inspiring line to repeat to one’s self for four hours, but I like to think it really sums me up as a bike racer. It’s a little whiny, a little melodramatic, but for some reason you just keep singing it over and over.

ASPEN, Colo. (VN) — I do not know a lot (read anything) about car racing, but I just finished reading a biography of Formula One legend Ayrton Senna and gained a little bit of insight. As I was reading the book I couldn’t help but see a lot of parallels between F1 and professional cycling. Aspiring drivers move up through lower leagues before getting to the top of the sport, the way cyclists move up through Continental and Pro Continental teams before reaching the WorldTour. At this point I’m beginning to ramble, and forgetting that this is a journal for a cycling site not a car site.

One thing I found particularly interesting, though, about Formula One is that the start is critical, and the racers always rip off the line. In cycling, this is not always the case, especially on the first day of a hard, seven-day stage race at altitude. For example, last week at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah we had two days of, I don’t want to say easy racing, but long, grinding, and certainly not explosive stages before the racing really heated up.

The kickoff stage of the USA Pro Challenge around Aspen on Monday felt a bit more like an F1 start than a slow grind off the line with six more hard days around the corner. Hopefully not too many of my competitors are reading this, because it is possible to likely that I am the only one sitting in my room right now drawing comparisons between our 40 kph bike race and F1 races that regularly cruise at over 200 kph. My fear now is that Peter Sagan will see this journal and strike early tomorrow in an attempt to eliminate me as a major contender from the sprints.

In all seriousness, though, it was great to get the race underway in Aspen. The views were beautiful, the crowds were bountiful, and the air was lacking. For me personally, it seems no matter how well or poorly I have prepared for a race I always have a feeling of “what is going to happen?” until the race gets underway. So for me, getting the first stage in the legs is always a big relief and answers some questions I have been asking myself leading into the race.

Luckily enough for me, the answers were pretty good on Monday. The race was still a bunch sprint, and not a true GC day, but it was by no means easy, with only 40 racers coming to the line together. I tend to have a bit of an affinity for the back, and often lack a sense of urgency when I should, so sure enough, I just snuck in as the last man in the group! Unfortunately, we dropped the ball in the leadout a little bit and did not get our sprinter/climber/everything racer, Tanner Putt, the placing he deserved. However, I must say it feels good to be part of a team where a mistake still yields two guys in the top 15 with one of them wearing the best young rider jersey (though Sagan leads the classification).

That is all for now. Tune in next time for more on racing without air and to find out who in the peloton I can persuade to push me up Independence Pass.

Editor’s note: Nate Wilson will be filing rider journals throughout the 2013 USA Pro Challenge, which started Monday, August 19 in Aspen, Colorado.

Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” is flowing out of the poolside speakers. The sun is out and I’ve got my shirt off, trying to soak up as many rays as possible and do away with the farmer’s tan I’ve accumulated from a long season of racing.

My mind drifts to the 14-pound pizza-eating challenge that I plan to tackle with my friend next month. Then Chris Froome walks by and I wonder what the recent Tour de France winner is doing in my dream. It takes a second, but I snap out of it. I realize that I am not dreaming, though I might as well be. Being up where the air is thin and the people are beautiful, here in Aspen, it is easy to think I am in a dream, especially with the off-season just around the corner. In reality, though, I am here for the biggest race of my season.

On the eve of the USA Pro Challenge, all is good in the Bontrager camp. I am excited for the opportunity to write this journal, and the opportunity to give the readers a look inside our team a little bit. Up to this point the season has been a great success for the team. All the expected clichés have come true — top results have been earned and experience gained — but I was once told not to write in clichés. Therefore I will try and leave the ordinary news to the reporters and aim to pull back the curtain a little bit on our team and what goes on in the race over the next week.

For me, this race marks a big opportunity. I have had a lot of help and encouragement in my cycling career up to this point. All year I have watched and been a part of some great successes by my teammates. This race marks an opportunity to make some successes of my own, and pay back the people that have believed in me. The great thing about this team is that everyone is good, and everyone gets their turn. We come to this race with a strong team and we are motivated to prove that, especially with the stacked field that is here.

I have to apologize; I took a bit of a turn for the serious there. That is not to say that serious is bad, but I can only handle it in small doses of, say, two paragraphs. I have been talking to a few of my teammates and the impression that I am getting is that the objective for this race is to cross the finish line in front of as many competitors as possible. I am not going to say that is not an objective, but for me there is so much more.

The USA Pro Challenge is another stop on my quest to find the best race buffet in the world, and with the support from Skratch Labs, they are high on the list so far. I would also be remiss not to mention that I will secretly be keeping track of the best Colorado rider and fighting tooth and nail to win that classification, which I have invented. Finally, as two handsome bachelors, my roommate for the week, Tanner Putt, and I will be on the lookout for the finest ladies these altitudes have to offer.

So, with the sun shining in Aspen, I am off to analyze some power files and listen to some Adele in an attempt to focus on the task ahead.

Editor’s note: Nate Wilson will be filing rider journals throughout the 2013 USA Pro Challenge, which starts Monday, August 19 in Aspen, Colorado.